


Tea

by CrimeAlley1048



Category: Batfamily - Fandom, Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), batfam - Fandom
Genre: Gen, anxiety attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 20:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19157977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimeAlley1048/pseuds/CrimeAlley1048
Summary: Cassandra finds Stephanie post-panic attack.





	Tea

Cass found her hiding under a bullet-ridden table in an empty warehouse. Stephanie had her arms around her knees, with her hood pulled back and blood on her face, but Cass wasn’t sure whose blood it was, so she dropped silently from the rafters and made her way over. She crouched by the table and called softly.

  
“Spoiler?”

  
Stephanie didn’t respond. A tear fell through the blood splashed underneath her eye while she stared forward.

  
“Spoiler.” Cass put out a hand to get her attention. Stephanie blinked and looked up at her, and in that second, Cass saw fear in her eyes. Then it was gone, and Stephanie’s shoulders fell in relief.

“Batgirl,” she said quietly. “Hey.”

  
“What happened?”

  
“Nothing. Just resting.”

  
“Okay.” Cass offered her hand again. “Let’s go back. It’s morning now.”

  
Stephanie nodded and took the hand with her own cold, shaking fingers.

  
The Batcave was empty when they arrived. Cass led Stephanie to the computer chair and settled her in it. She brought a wet sponge and a towel and handed them over, and Stephanie cleaned the blood off her face. It wasn’t hers. There weren’t any cuts beneath it.

  
Stephanie twisted one leg beneath her in the chair and swung back and forth gently on the wheels, eyes on the hands in her lap. Cass stood behind her and braided her hair, as slowly and as carefully as she could. She didn’t know what else to do.

  
Cass was too late. Stephanie had days like this, she knew. There were signs that they were coming, and Cass could always see them: something in Stephanie’s eyes that went flat while her hands moved too fast and her breath hitched in her throat. She pulled at her bracelets and bit at her lips. She stopped talking, before. Then came the storm.

  
Cass had seen it, seen Stephanie sobbing on the floor that she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, that her heart beat too fast. She hadn’t seen it this time— just the aftermath, but that was enough. Cass knew what had happened.

  
That didn’t do Stephanie any good. If Cass had been there a day, or even a few hours before, she could have talked her down. They could have gone out together, and Stephanie might have been fine.

  
Cass hadn’t been there, so she twisted strands of Stephanie’s hair in silence until the Batmobile pulled into the cave and Bruce stepped out of it. Stephanie tried to jump out of his chair when she saw him. He pulled back his cowl and waved her down again.

  
“What happened?” he asked, walking towards them.

  
“Nothing,” said Stephanie. “I—nothing.”

  
Bruce nodded and knelt in front of her. “Are you okay?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Are you sure?”

  
“Yes,” said Stephanie, as she began to cry again. She swiped at her eyes. “I’m fine, don’t worry, I can do this, I—”

  
“I know you can,” said Bruce. He stood up again. “Tea?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“What else?”

  
Stephanie appeared to think about it. “Blanket?” she asked.

  
“Cassandra?”

  
Cass finished the last twist in Stephanie’s braid, nodded, and hurried upstairs. She pulled her favorite blanket off of her own bed and came back down, rushing by Alfred on her way past.

  
“Stephanie,” she told him.

  
“I’ll get tea.”

  
“Bruce did it.”

  
“Master Bruce got tea?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Cass went downstairs again and found Stephanie still in the computer chair, now with a kettle and a steaming mug. Bruce leaned on the desk next to her, and she smiled as she took a sip of what was very likely lightly flavored water. Bruce wasn’t known for his tea-making skills.

  
Cass stood behind the chair again and draped her blanket around Stephanie’s shoulders.

  
“Mind the hair,” said Stephanie. “I like it a lot.”

  
“I’ll be careful.”

  
“Best friend did it for me.”

  
Cass smiled as Stephanie pulled the blanket around herself. Bruce poured himself a mug of tea, tasted it, and winced.

  
“This is not good,” he said.

  
Cass smile again while Stephanie laughed.

  
“No, no, it’s good!” Stephanie said. “You tried really hard.”

  
“I’ll get Alfred to bring something better.”

  
“Nope,” said Stephanie. She held out her tea-free hand for Cass to grab. “I want this one.”

 


End file.
